Newsletter – January 2017

For the last 50 years, Integral Care has provided Travis County with cutting-edge behavioral health services. We are committed to providing innovative health interventions to our community. To address the complex and unique health care needs of individuals experiencing homelessness and living with mental illness or substance use disorder, we adopted the Housing First Model. To learn more or to make a donation visit HousingFirstATX.org.

Partnerships in Action – Year in Review

Housing First is a component of the Healthy Community Collaborative (HCC). The HCC is a partnership involved in a number of innovative health and housing collaborations across Austin that are changing how health care for homeless individuals is provided in our community. Through this initiative, supportive housing providers and health and behavioral health systems are coming together to form integrated care teams that meet the needs of homeless individuals.

Integral Care understands the importance of community partnerships and had many exciting outcomes in 2016. Here is a look back at the incredible work we, as a community, have done in such a short amount of time.

481 individuals were assisted in applying for and secure Social Security Disability Benefits

237 individuals received Peer Services from staff with lived experienced of homelessness, mental illness and substance use disorder

261 individuals received Tobacco Cessation services to either help them quit or plan to quit using tobacco

588 individuals were provided with stays in shelters

305 individuals were placed into housing of which 95 were housed through Integral Care’s Housing First Team

2,364 individuals were screened with the Coordinated Assessment, getting them the right kind of help at the right time

In the News

Austin Wins $5.2 Million Grant to End Youth Homelessness

We are beyond excited to announce that Austin was selected from 130 applicants as one of ten cities chosen for the HUD Demonstration grant awards to end youth homelessness.

Funded by the FY 2016 Appropriations Act, HUD announced that 10 communities-including four rural communities- will share $33 million under its new Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP), to help end youth homelessness by 2020. Austin was selected because of its ROBUST efforts around ending Veterans’ homelessness, through the Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, the Voices of Youth Count and the 100 Day Challenge.

We are a city with a reputation and track record for embracing our challenges as a community and getting things done! This award is a great step forward. Integral Care is proud to join Echo and Lifeworks on this incredible and necessary initiative.

We interviewed Rick at his new apartment to see how his life has changed since being housed.

“I committed to fighting addiction. It is a daily thing. I slip up a lot. I walk to the edge a lot, but I keep in check. I am hopeful for that one day. There are ways to beat addiction, you just have to try. You can do that when you have stability.”

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I was born in Pennsylvania but grew up in Alabama. I went to high school and college in Alabama and was married there too. I studied drafting and engineering, got two years into my degree before I had to get back to work. I wanted to go to the University of Mississippi.

I suffer from addiction, depression and a host of other things. I have physical pain in my neck from old football injury. I have a plate in my neck and had a vertebrae removed. It was getting harder to work. When my physical health started deteriorating everything else started coming up. I got depressed from not being able to do what you used to do. All this started hitting me and it caused me to think back. I realized that I really needed to see a psychiatrist.

How did you get connected to Integral Care Services?

I was at the ARCH before I became homeless for a while. I had never been homeless in my whole life. I did not like it at all. I worked with several case managers then I got my first apartment.

A home is the foundation for recovery from homelessness, mental illness and substance use, which often go hand in hand. Integral Care is building Housing First Oak Springs, an apartment community where residents can build a better life. With access to health care, case management and other services, residents get back on their feet and on the path to recovery. We know that housing is more than four walls – it’s the basic foundation for mental health and well-being. I invite you to be a part of the solution at housingfirstatx.org.

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